LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXXII, Issue 12381, 4 February 1908, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

We arc informed by Mr S. S. Griffith*, who lias in hand the matter of the proposed swimming bath for the District High School, that he hae already been pro. jnified some handsome donations and anticipates uo difficulty in raieing the amount required. Are bye-laws designed for the protection of roads sufficient to prevent the farmer from cutting the highways up with' narrow tyres? According to the Chairman of the Waitotara County Council, by-laws are only effective ''when people have consci- % ences, and sometimes consciences are scarce." A fire^ was discovered just,, .before 11 o'clock last' evening in the smokehouse at the rear of Mr, C. Heinold's pork butcher's shop in the Avenue. The Fire Brigade, under Captain Spriggens, was promptly on the scene and in a few minutes had tbe blaze out without a great deal of damage having been done. Though forne men are popularly 6aid to be "born tinea," their inherited lassitude does not preyent^hem from having a keen eye to the main chance. "I engaged a man to work on my farm," said a. member of the Waitotara County Council yesterday morning. "I paid his fare out and bought him a pair of hnots. Next morning he said the iob wasn't good enough and went back to town with my boots." A number of people passed Sunday in a more or less nervous state of mind, in consequence of the predictions of the Welling ton prophet, who reckoned the Dominion •was likely to b© visited on the 2nd' mat. with come dire calamity. So far as w& have been able to learn, the moat startling incidents which occurred in Wanganui were a few small whirlwinds which raised high colums of dust, and we have not heard of anything worse happening in any part of the Dominion. "There's no scarcity of work," said a member of the Waitotara County Council yesterday morning. "Half of those crying out for want of it arc those v^ho don't want it." Regarding this view of the matter, a passage in the monthly report of the Council's foreman is interesting. That officer stated that, although offering good wages for a certain job some milee out of town, the invariable reply he got from men whom he tried to engage was, Oh, it c too far out?" Is tWe a scarcity of labour in the Dominion? The Canterbury Trades and Labour Council say not. Is there a scarcity of it in this district? According to a writer in yesterday morning's Chronicle, work here is hard, uot easy, to obtain. Referring to that writer's experience, the Chairman of thp Waitotara County Council said, yesterday morning, "If he's a poor farni hand, he ought to be a good pick and shove! man They are giving 10s a day to them and if the man is any good he can get work alright." Almost every vessel leaving for Wellington takes a shipload of wool for transhipment Home, but though the amount coteing to hand ie gradually decreasing? th» quantity arriving is still large, and there should be fairly large shipments for some time to come. Besides the shipments to Wellington, a considerable quantity is being loaded on to Home vessels in ths stead, and the next vessel— the Kaiparq* on the 11th inst., the wool to be lightered to her will comprise several thousand bales. The Christchurch City Council last night confirmed the acceptance of the tender of the Wanganui Spiral Steel Pipe Company for the supply of pipes for the Cathedral City's new high pressure water supply. The pipe works still -continue to be kept busy with orders for pipes which aye evidently coming into favour with local bodies througbtout the Dominion. The-Gisbprne and Dannevirke contracts w.ill be completed shortly, while orders are now being filled for the Lyttelton and Collingwood Borongh Councils and the Christehnrch Gas Company. In this dry weather it behoves everybody to be particularly careful about throwing lighted matches about. Several incipient grass fired have been discovered just in time within the last few days, which could only have been caused by carelessness. There were three large grass fires yesterday, one on St. John's Hill (^n this case supposed to have "been caused by a spark from a railway engine), one on the Collegiate School Estate at the rear of the District High School, and one at Tayforth. The Fire Brigade had to send a reel over to deal with the fire on the College estate, the other blazes being put out ,by volunteer workers. The Minister of Lands has. sent the following letter to the Castlecliff Railway Company in reference to tree and grass planting at the Heads: — "Wellington, January 31stTl908. Mr J. L. Stevenson, chairman, ' Castlecliff Railway Company, Wanganui. Dear Sir,— l beg to acknow. ledge receipt of your letter bearing date 16th instant., to the Right Hon' the Premier, asking for the services of an expert to advice you of the most suitable kind of trees and' grass for the sand waste at Castlecliff, which it ie your intention to plant. In reply, I have the honour to inform you that I am giving instructions for Mr Mabhews, the Chief Forester, to communicate with you, and arrange to visit your district and advise you as to the proper course to follow. — Yours faithfully, Robert McNab." The slope of St. John's Hill, in the vicinity of the poundkeeper's house, was the centre of a bevy of fire-fighters yesterday morning. By some means the long grass near the house became ignited, and with a fair breeze the fire soon spread, and'apjeared to be making its way towards th--house. A passer-by at once sefc to work to combat the flame and succeeded, with two or thr?e others, who arrived at different intervals, in arresting their progress, but not before a considerable amount of the prassy elope had been destroyed. On Sunday at Smithfield a similar incident occurred, a number cf residents in that suburn were engaged for several hours extinguishing a grass fire, which extended over several acres. There was a large attendance at the open-air concert given in the Rotunda by the Garrison Band on Sunday afternoon, when the weather was favourable. Th* programme rendered was a very fine one, and was greatly appreciated by those presents The items , included the test selection "William Tell" (Rossiner) «lao the teat march to be rendered by the competing bands at the forthcoming New Plymouth contest. Both -were particularly well rendered, and much enjoyed. The march "The Merry Maids," brought out from Home by Mr W. Andrews, wood-carving iastnetor at the Technical School and presented to the Band, was also given, and created a very favourable impression. One or two solos were well rendered, the concert being a most enj6yable one. The new instruments looked very bright, and their splendid tone was favourably commented upon.